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Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Zip Stix Stunt Pack Review

A little while back we were sent a pack of Zip Stix to play with and review. A new toy from Re:creation they're recommended for children aged 4+ and are set to be one of the most popular stockingfillers this Christmas. Our immediate experience was that our 4 year old just can't get the hang of them at all, but our 6 year old was the best in the house!

We were sent the Zip Stix Stunt Pack, which contains everything you need to get started, and then progress to stunt work. Our 4 year old was incredibly excited and ripped everything open before the essential 'pack shot'...

Zip Stix work very much like the wristbands children sometimes have which can be pulled straight and then as soon as you let them bend they curl up and 'snap' back into the circular shape they want to be.

The launchers have a small red peg which holds the Zip Stix in place until you let go of the end when they'll curl up and the momentum from that sends them off at speed.

It's virtually impossible to get an 'action shot', and believe me I've tried. They're really quite fast, however they are fairly soft and have rubber edges, so they don't hurt even with a direct hit. They do launch from the ramp and it's too quick really to see, so if you sit at the opposite end like I did to photograph, you do take a few face shots.

The Zip Stix are fairly tough, but still light, so the cones have to be lightweight, and are in fact very much like fromage frais pots, and around the same size. I have them on my shopping list because my 6 year old has grand plans for a wall of 'cones' to smash through.

There is a lot of scope for creating all kinds of tracks and
obstacles from things around the house, and really improving your aim. The 2 launchers can lock together for
racing and competitive play, and I think our 6 year old enjoys challenging himself as much as competing with someone else.

Zip Stix are very good at flying, bouncing and rolling off in whichever direction they're launched, so we do have quite a lot of this....

But we have a lot of this too, so it's well worth it...

I think the main reason our 4 year old can't get the hang of Zip Stix is because they're very much right-handed. He's left-handed and so am I, and while I can hold the launcher still using the tiny locking hole at the right hand side, he doesn't have the finger strength, and he can't get the hang of launching with his right hand (nor can I really).

Overall Zip Stix are loads of fun, they're something we can all have a play with and they can be really quite competitive in a good way.

Zip Stix are not expensive, they start at around £5 for a twin pack of Stix and Launchers, and even Stunt Packs retail around £7-£15 with ramps and cones. Our set has an RRP of £7.99. They will make an excellent stockingfiller or small present and will definitely be incredibly popular this Christmas.

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Parenting And Play Blog.

Play and entertainment for children and young people from tiny to teen and beyond. Skilled at Lego building and mending all things broken or trodden on. Grieving the loss of our oldest girl in August 2014, but still collecting smiles as often as possible.